1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to refining petroleum. More particularly, the present invention relates to converting crude oil and/or waste oil into a useable fuel for diesel engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
The need to conserve natural resources is now universally recognized. In particular, petroleum conservation has become widespread and efforts to control air pollution resulting from the combustion of petroleum products has increased. Waste petroleum products are being re-cycled in an effort to conserve petroleum. However, some petroleum deposits are located so far from petroleum refineries that the cost of transporting the petroleum is a significant factor compared to the cost of the petroleum at the production site or oil field storage tank.
Petroleum refining devices are known in the art, as are devices for refining waste oil such as waste lubricating oils. Exemplary of such devices are the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,198 discloses a process for the working up of salvage oil, in which the salvage oil is subjected to an extraction under supercritical conditions. The halogen compounds contained in the produced extract are removed by catalytic hydrogenation. The extraction residue is eliminated by deposition or thermal treatment (gasification). In the case of a thermal treatment of the extraction residue, other residues can be simultaneously converted, so that the process is performed without yield of environmentally burdensome residues or by-products. Ethane in particular and/or propane is employed as solvent for the supercritical extraction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,809 discloses a hydroconversion of heavy oils in which high yields of desired distillate oil are obtained by subjecting heavy oil to catalytic conversion with hydrogen at superatomospheric pressure in a temperature staged process, wherein the oil catalyst slurry is subjected in the initial stage to a temperature in the range of 780.degree.-825.degree. F. (415.degree.-440.degree. C.) and in a subsequent stage to a temperature which is at least 20.degree. F. higher than that employed in the previous stage, preferably in the range of 800.degree.-860.degree. F. (425.degree.-460.degree. C.).
U.S. Pat. 4,512,878 discloses used oil re-refining, especially used lubricating oils which are normally considered waste and are discarded or burned, in which the used oils reclaimed for reuse by a re-refining procedure involving the steps of: (a) heat soaking the used oil; (b) distilling the heat soaked oil; (c) passing the distillate through a guard bed of activated material; (d) hydrotreating the guard bed treated distillate under standard hydrotreating conditions.
If the used oil to be re-refined contains a quantity of water and/or fuel fraction which the practitioner considers sufficiently large to be detrimental, the used oil may be subjected to a dewatering/defueling step prior to being heat soaked.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,859 discloses thermal treatment of used petroleum oils, such as automotive crankcase oil drainings from internal combustion engines, in which the oils are pretreated by heating to above about 400.degree.-800.degree. F., and preferably between 600.degree.-750.degree. F., while an essentially liquid phase system is maintained at a pressure of between 500-3500 p.s.i.g., preferably between 2000-3500 p.s.i.g., for between 15-60 minutes, the contact time being even shorter at higher temperatures. A sludge which contains contaminants, such as insoluble degradation products, metallic compounds, and water, is separated preferably by centrifugation, leaving a substantially ashless oil ready for additional refinement to a high quality lubricating oil, or it may be used, per se, as a fuel oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,881 discloses a crank case oil refining that are reclaimed from used crankcase oils obtained from gasoline or diesel internal combustion engines, or mixtures thereof, by flash vaporization of substantially all the water content of the used oil at noncoking temperatures; admixing the dried oil with a hydrocarbon oil having an ASTM boiling range of about 150.degree.-250.degree. F. and a 50 percent point of about 200.degree. F., to precipitate carbonaceous solids; the admixing taking place in the presence of a concentrated aqueous alkali metal hydroxide in a minor amount and at a moderately elevated temperature; centrifugally separating the solid precipitate from the treated liquid oil admixture; subjecting the separated treated liquid oil admixture to a first fractional distillation under conditions which will preclude coking or degradation of the lubricating components from a water-containing overhead fraction; and subjecting the bottoms fraction to a second fractional distillation to obtain lubricating oil cuts and a usable bottoms product. The water from the flash vaporization may be combined with the watercontaining overhead fraction for removal of undesirable water-soluble components.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,828,428 discloses a method of reclaiming contaminated lubricating oils including providing a fixed bed of calcareous substance possessing the characteristic of attracting to it mechanical impurities suspended in the oil, and causing the oil to filter through the bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,464,918 discloses a tower apparatus for treating hydrocarbons including a liquid elevating conduit having its lower end disposed in a body of liquid in the tower, a device for forcing the vapor to be treated into the conduit, near its lower end, and a member in the tower on which the liquid elevated through the conduit falls and which causes the liquid to fall in a finely divided state and thereby be brought into intimate contact with the vapors in the tower.